Let's make one thing clear

Any money you give to government (local, state or nation) is a tax. That name is not exclusive. The tax can also be a fee, penalty, charge or any other name they come up with; but as long as it is money you give to the government... IT IS A TAX.

Are we clear now?

Update: Great legal minds agree...

When the Court restricted federal commerce power in the 1920s and 1930s, it distinguished between taxes, which raise revenues, and penalties, which regulate behavior. This distinction is useless because so many federal exactions do both...

When is a tax not a penalty?